List of Famous people born in Iowa, United States of America

Laura Diane Leighton is an American actress. She played Sydney Andrews on the television series Melrose Place (1993–1997) and its remake (2009–2010), and Ashley Marin on Freeform's series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017).

Terry Linn Stotts is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Abby Lea Finkenauer is an American politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Iowa's 1st congressional district from 2019 to 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Theodore W. "Ted" Waitt is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Waitt is a co-founder of Gateway, Inc..

Donn Charles Nelson is an American basketball executive who is the previous general manager and president of basketball operations for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the son of Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson, who has the most wins of any coach in NBA history at 1,335. In a 2007 Sports Illustrated article ranking the NBA's personnel bosses from 1 to 30, Nelson was ranked No. 2. In a 2009 Yahoo Sports article, Nelson was ranked the third-best general manager of the decade after producing nine 50-plus-win seasons in a row and the first finals appearance in franchise history in 2006. Nelson assembled the Mavericks team that would later win the 2011 NBA championship. Having served since 2005, Nelson was the longest-tenured general manager in the NBA at the time of his parting with the Mavericks in 2021, in front of Sam Presti of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who has been their general manager since 2007.

George Homer Ryan Sr. is an American former politician who was the 39th Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1999 until 2003. He is also known as "George H. Ryan" and is a member of the Republican Party. Ryan received national attention for his 1999 moratorium on executions in Illinois and for commuting more than 160 death sentences to life sentences in 2003. He was later convicted of federal corruption charges and spent more than five years in federal prison and seven months of home confinement. He was released from federal prison on July 3, 2013.

Craig Michael Jones, also known by his nickname "133", is an American heavy metal musician. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he is best known as the sampler and keyboardist in Slipknot. When performing with Slipknot, he is also referred to as #5. Jones joined the band in 1996 shortly after the recording of Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., replacing Donnie Steele on guitar, although he quickly moved onto the role of sampler. Following the departure of Joey Jordison in 2013, Jones is now the second-longest-serving member of Slipknot.

Phyllis Jeanne Somerville was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is best known for her roles in Little Children (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Surviving Family (2012), The Big C (2010–2013), and Outsiders (2016–2017).

Mickael Gordon Thomson is an American heavy metal musician. He is one of two guitarists in the band Slipknot, in which he is designated #7. Thomson originally met founding Slipknot members Anders Colsefni, Donnie Steele and Paul Gray through their mutual involvement in death metal band Body Pit, later joined in early 1996. Following the departure of Joey Jordison in 2013, Thomson is now the third longest-serving member of Slipknot.

Sidney George Wilson, also known as TheDJ, DJ Starscream, #0, is an American DJ, keyboardist, rapper and pianist, best known as the turntablist of the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Slipknot. Wilson was the youngest member of the band until bassist Alessandro Venturella and drummer Jay Weinberg, who were born in 1978 and 1990 respectively, joined the band.